About Me
- Name: Ryan
- Location: Athens, Ga, United States
Our son Ryan was diagnosed with stage 4 Neuroblastoma in 2004. In 2007, my wife Missy was diagnosed with stage 2 triple negative breast cancer. On July 8th, 2009, Missy lost her battle to this horrible disease. 2 days later, on July 10th, Ryan also lost his. Together forever, they both watch over our family now from the heavens above. Below is our families journey through Ryan's treatments, along with the joy and laughter we tried to instill into our daily lives. Those days helped us all cope with the pain and suffering that comes with cancer and it's deadly treatments. Both Missy and Ryan endured high doses of chemo, radiation and surgeries. Over 150 nights spent in the hospital and many, many more days. More transfusions than I could count. Yet both Missy and Ryan took on each day with a positive attitude and warm smile for all their friends. We miss them terribly. They will always be a shining light in our lives.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Still the best in our hearts!!
What a fun day we had yesterday. It was wonderful to see Dawn and to meet her family. They are all so proud of her, and rightly so. She wasn't named to the top 3, but will always be #1 in our hearts. The keynote speaker was Ike Reighard of Homebanc. He was a great speaker and talked about the importance of "filling your bucket" by giving to others. The AJC had made videos of each of the 10 nurses honored, and Dawn's video was really good. She practically said in her video that her job "fills her bucket" and that's good for all of us - good for her, no doubt, and good for all the children that will receive her care! (and their parents). Ryan kept us laughing in our seats. He was trying hard to be good, but hey, he's a boy!! He gargled his coffee, that he just had to have and wrote "kick me" sticky notes and stuck them on Les' back. We will be busy today getting ready for Relay for Life tomorrow. Heidi will be spending the night with her team, and Ryan is really looking forward to selling lemonade again and walking the survivor lap. I am still not quite sure what he will do as the Youth Ambassador, so I know there will be more surprises in store for us. He has a big surprise for everyone that can stick around a while. You will be glad you did. He is off to school this morning. I didn't mention he had to go to the pediatrician last Friday for an ear infection. His ears are better, but his eye is red and swollen this morning. It's weird cause Matt's eye looked the same on the weekend. We put drops in it and will keep a close eye on it (no pun intended!). He is growing up like you can't imagine. He has been working on multiplying numbers and learning cursive writing!! He starts back at karate on Monday, which he is real excited about. Soccer isn't quite over yet for him, but Heidi and Will's seasons are done. Swim team starts Monday. Thanks for checking on us and thanks so much for your prayers for Ryan. We will post again with some pictures from Relay on the weekend. The picture today is of Ryan, Dawn, and some of the Aflac nurses. This is nurse's week, so if you can, make one feel special because they are our heroes, our angels. Love, Les, Missy, Heidi, Will, and SuperRyan
